Is there a photographer on your gift list this holiday season? Perhaps people are still asking you what you want?

Holiday gift guides for photographers are a dime a dozen, and most highlight the same things, whether sublime or ridiculous. How many times do you need to see a travel mug that looks like your 70-200 lens? Cutesy t-shirts with bad puns about photography? Have you seen enough instant cameras, clip-on smart phone lenses and mini portable printers to last you a lifetime?

If you’re looking for your standard photography stuff, you can check out the guides from your favorite camera store. But there are many more options. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a few NANPA-related gifts, so we’ll start with those. Then I’ll follow with a few weird items that might make you laugh, but are things you can probably live without. Finally, I’ll conclude with a few items that you just might want to buy.

NANPA: the sublime

How about a year of NANPA membership? A great way to introduce a photographer friend to the benefits of our association. Or, perhaps some nice person could extend your membership for another year! There are a lot of great member benefits that make joining well worth your while.

A generous friend or relative could spot you a registration to the 2019 Nature Photography Summit, February 21-23, in Las Vegas, NV. Great speakers, timely workshops, options for Super Sessions and location shoots as well as opportunities to make connections with fellow nature photographers, photo editors, vendors and potential clients.

NANPA Regional Events are led by NANPA members with special knowledge of and expertise in the area.

Have a bighearted benefactor? Maybe they could send you off to photograph birds in Florida, fall foliage on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula or starry night skies in Arches National Park at one of NANPA’s Regional Events.

If you haven’t hit your charitable contributions goal for the year, consider donating to the NANPA Foundation. Your money goes towards high school and college scholarships and grants that “allow photographers at all levels of experience to explore special nature-related photographic projects in their communities.”

The Photorito, a lens wrap that looks like a burrito.

The Ridiculous

Among the weird items for photographers, PHOTOLEMUR’s gift guide has a couple of my favorites: The Photorito Lens Wrap and the Go Pro Fetch. The former is a padded lens wrap that looks like a tortilla and makes your wrapped lens look like a burrito. And who doesn’t need that? The latter is a dog harness for a Go Pro, allowing your pooch to record a dog’s eye view of the world. Just in case you were curious how Fido experiences life.

Salt and pepper shakers in the form of 35 mm film canisters might be cute but does anyone really need a set that includes toilet paper, paper towel and tissue dispensers mimicking film canisters? Or a toilet paper dispenser shaped like a Polaroid instant film camera? Someone must, because you can buy each of them.

Another item of questionable utility is the Moman Cell Phone Clip, a bottle cap tripod for a smart phone. While one might appreciate the ability to use an everyday object to stabilize your iPhone or Android, the opportunity to not only knock them over but also get them wet does not appeal to an occasional klutz me.

Paper towel dispensers, a GoPro harness for Fido, and a water bottle tripod head are among the holiday gifts available this year.

The useful

I’ll leave you with one cool, yet more sensible, gift idea. Take a look at LenzBuddy lens caps (shown at the top of this article), which are customizable front and rear caps for a variety of lenses. If you’ve ever opened you bag and couldn’t distinguish between one lens and another, these might be just the ticket. You can even customize with your business name and logo! Better than a lens burrito!

PhotoPills and Photographer’s Ephemeris are photography planning tools that I simply must have on my phone. They’re $10 or less (there’s even a free desktop version of Ephemeris) so, if you haven’t tried them, you’re missing out.

Whatever you give or receive this holiday season, we hope the past year has been full of great nature photography and that the year ahead will be even better. Next year, I’m hoping for a camera bag shaped like a taco.